I haven’t been posting for a while here. These are busy times. I’m working a lot for synth manufacturers lately, a new world of exciting projects just opened up and I’m really glad about it!
A project I’ve been involved in lately is a module by Canadian modular synth maker hexinverter.net, in collaboration with Jason Amm aka Solvent (ghostly.com/artists/solvent). It’s a distortion and compressor effect in eurorack modular format made to promote and fund the documentary film I Dream of Wires (idreamofwires.org).
Available for pre-order here: http://idreamofwires.org/ (you need to click on the “batteryACID module” in the menu, since there’s no direct link to the page…
Be sure to check out the trailer below, because the film is going to be epic! And I think they still need your help to finish it… check the website for details.
It’s nice to see that an idea can survive the project that has produced it. I invented the Comic Battle many years ago together with the people from Monipodio! a comic artist group I was part of (and have been a founder of). The Comic Battle is basically like a breakdance battlemixed with slam poetry contest and done with comics and it’s totally fun!
Usually I don’t like too happy music, but there is something in Omodaka’s music that just works for me. Maybe it’s the unusual mix between happy-go-lucky gameboy tunes and traditional Japanese vocals, maybe it’s the style of some of their videoclips.
Anyway, check them out, and start 2012 with a positive mood!
Their latest album Sanosa can be bought in the usual places like iTunes, Amazon and 7digital (just search Omodaka)
I’ve spent 3 years working on a graphic novel about jazz music, and this made me discover and appreciate many musicians I didn’t know (or didn’t know well) before. Still I can’t say that I’m a Jazz addict, even while drawing Gietz!, most of the time I would listen to completely different music, like The Cure or some chiptunes. At one point I felt the need to find some flavour of contemporary Jazz that was somehow more in line with my taste. I dicovered a whole new world!
There’s this current in Jazz which is called Dark Jazz, or Doom Jazz which is a mix of dark athmospheres, weird soundscapes and e-piano. There’s two great bands I would recomend: Bohren and the Club of Gore and The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble. Check out the videos below:
Another great band I would recommend is Movits! Those Swedish guys created the perfect mix between Django Reinhard, Swing and Hip Hop. I’ve been listening to this a lot while drawing Gietz! It perfectly fitted with the mood of the comic, and was energetic enough to fuel my motivation!
